New York Yankees lose a close on on a blown call to end the game

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Baltimore Orioles by the score of 5-4 on Saturday night. The game took place at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland. CC Sabathia started for the Yankees and wasn’t good. He blew a lead for his third straight start and they have lost all three of those games. The bullpen was good and Derek Jeter and Ichiro Suzuki led the offense. Joe Saunders started for the Orioles and pitched pretty well, their bullpen struggled a little bit. The Orioles offense was led by J.J. Hardy and Lew Ford. 
Sabathia pitched 6 1/3 innings giving up eight hits and five runs with no walks and five strikeouts. Sabathia lost his fifth game of the season and Cody Eppley pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings giving up a walk and striking out one. Saunders won his eighth game of the season pitching 5 1/3 innings giving up five hits and two runs with two walks and two strikeouts. Darren O’Day pitched 1 2/3 perfect innings with three strikeouts, Pedro Strop pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two hits and a run with a walk and a strikeout and Brian Matusz pitched to one batter and retired him. Jim Johnson picked up his 42^nd save of the season pitching one inning giving up three hits and a run.

Jeter had three hits, Nick Swisher had an RBI and Mark Teixeira had a hit and drew a walk. Alex Rodriguez had a hit and two RBI, Robinson Cano had a hit and drew a walk and Russell Martin had a hit and drew a walk. Suzuki had two hits and an RBI and Eric Chavez had a hit. Teixeira and Suzuki each hit a double and Rodriguez hit a homerun. The Yankees were 1-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base.

Nick Markakis had a hit and was hit by a pitch ending his season. He broke his thumb and is out for six weeks which is a tough break for the Orioles. Nate McClouth had a hit, Hardy had two hits and two RBI and Adam Jones had a hit. Mark Reynolds had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Ford had two hits and two RBI and Hardy, Jones and McClouth each hit a double. Reynolds, Ford and Hardy each hit a homerun. The Orioles were 2-7 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base. Ford had a stolen base.

Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the first. In the second Suzuki hit an RBI double to make it a 2-0 Yankees lead. Reynolds and Ford hit back-to-back solo homeruns in the second to tie the game at two. The Orioles took a 3-2 lead on a Hardy double in the third inning. In the sixth the Orioles extended their lead to 5-2. Hardy hit a solo homerun and Ford hit an RBI single. Rodriguez hit a solo homerun in the eighth to cut the lead to 5-3. In the ninth the Yankees cut the lead to 5-4 after three straight singles and an RBI groundout. The final play of the game was a double play but Teixeira was clearly safe on all replays which would of tied the game and extended it. The Yankees were very peeved about the call and rightfully so but they did leave a lot of runners stranded and once again their ace blew a lead.

The Orioles have won two out of the first three games and the series finale is Sunday afternoon. The two teams have identical records at 78-61 as they are tied for first place. The AL East is hotly contested as the Tampa Bay Rays are only two games behind these two teams. The Yankees will have an off day on Monday and then finish their road trip with three games in Boston.

The New York Mets get crushed at home by the Atlanta Braves

The New York Mets were defeated by the Atlanta Braves by the score of 11-3. The game took place at Citi Field in Flushing, New York. Jeremy Hefner started for the Mets and was horrible, he turned in the shortest outing of his young career. Their bullpen wasn’t so good either. Lucas Duda and David Wright led the Mets offense. Kris Medlen started for the Braves and pitched well and their bullpen was ok. Brian McCann and Martin Prado led the Braves offense. 
Hefner pitched 2 2/3 innings giving up eight hits and five runs with two walks and a strikeout. Hefner lost his sixth game of the season, Justin Hampson retired the only batter that he faced, Robert Carson pitched two innings giving up two hits and two runs with a walk and a strikeout. Manny Acosta pitched an inning giving up a hit and a run, Jer Jeurys Familia pitched an inning giving up four hits and two runs with a strikeout and Ramon Ramirez pitched an inning giving up a walk. Elvin Ramirez pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run with three strikeouts. Medlen won his eighth game of the season pitching six innings giving up four hits and two runs with two walks and three strikeouts. Luis Avilan pitched two innings giving up four hits and a run with a strikeout and Cory Gearrin pitched a perfect inning striking out the side.

Wright had two hits, Ike Davis had a hit and drew a walk and Duda had two hits and two RBI. Jordany Valdespin had a hit and drew a walk, Mike Nickeas had a hit and Ronny Cedeno had a hit and an RBI. Duda hit a double and Cedeno hit a homerun. The Mets were 1-5 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Murphy committed an error.

Michael Bourn had a hit, Prado had three hits and two RBI and Jason Heyward had a hit and drew a walk. Chipper Jones had an RBI and drew a walk, Freddie Freeman had a hit and an RBI and Dan Uggla had three hits and drew two walks. McCann had four hits and four RBI, Constanza had two hits and an RBI and Medlen had a hit and an RBI. Erik Hinske had a hit and an RBI. Bourn, Heyward, McCann and Medlen each hit a double. McCann and Hinske each hit a homerun. The Braves were 6-21 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base.

In the second Constanza hit an RBI single to give the Braves a 1-0 lead. The Braves scored four runs in the third to take a 5-0 lead. Freeman hit an RBI single, McCann hit a two run double and Medlen hit an RBI double. In the fourth Duda hit an RBI single to cut the lead to 5-1. In the bottom of the fifth McCann hit a two run homerun to make it a 7-1 game. Cedeno hit a solo homerun in the fifth inning to cut it to 7-2. Jones grounded out in the sixth inning to make it a 8-2 game. Prado had a two run single in the seventh to make it a 10-2 game. Duda hit an RBI double in the eighth to make it 10-3 and that was the final run the Mets would score. The Braves would add another run and the final was 11-3.

The Mets record fell to 65-74 and the Braves record improved to 80-60. The Mets will try and salvage the final game of the three game series on Sunday afternoon. The Mets will then take on the Washington Nationals for three home games before an off day on Thursday.

Yankees post game notes Thursday night

Here are the Yankees Thursday night postgame notes.  These are after a tough loss in Baltimore to put them in a first place tie for the AL East crown.  The notes are courtesy of the Lohud Yankees Blog. 

It’s rarely good when The Associated Press is taking pictures like the one above. The stereotypical shot of a dejected baseball dugout is a bad sign, and the AP has taken that very same picture twice this week.

“It was already a frustrating game early on, them getting four runs in the first inning,” Russell Martin said. “That’s already frustrating. What can you do? We’ve had losses like this before and obviously it’s a big loss, but we’ve still got to come back and do our thing tomorrow.”

Have the Yankees really had losses like this before? Maybe in some other season, in some other ballpark, but certainly not this season in a loud, ready-to-win Camden Yards. Forget those comments earlier this week about those games at Tropicana Field feeling like playoff games. This was a postseason atmosphere. It started with the Cal Ripken tribute pregame, and it grew when Matt Wieters hit his three-run homer in the first. But in the bottom of the eighth, this place was supercharged.

The Yankees are a veteran bunch who have been through a lot, but it was hard to take this as any other loss. Not after the Yankees came back with an impressive two-out rally in the top half of the inning. Not with first place one the line. Not with three — three! — home runs to put the Orioles in front and out of reach.

“If you lose 6-1 it’s an important win for them and an important loss for us,” Joe Girardi said. “I don’t know if I’d feel any different. … When you’re fighting a team for first place, a loss is a loss.”

Dave Robertson might not be having the season he had last year, but he’s still be awfully good. Frankly, most of the Yankees bullpen concerns center on their ability to get the ball to Robertson, and those middle relievers actually did a nice job tonight. “I was really excited to come into the ballgame and do well,” Robertson said. “It’s not a lot of times this year it seems like we made a big push like that to tie a ballgame. I come in to do a job and be able to put up a zero right there. I feel like I let the team down today.”

Robertson had Jones 0-2, missed badly with a curveball, then left a fastball over the middle of the plate. “I was trying to make a good pitch, get the ball in on him, up a little bit,” Robertson said. “I didn’t make the pitch. I left the ball over the plate, and he’s a good hitter. He did what he’s supposed to do — made a good swing on it and sent it into the seats.”

The pitch that Reynolds hit in the eighth was a 3-2 fastball. “I tried to go down and away with that one,” Robertson said. “Left the ball over a little bit. It was over the middle of the plate. I didn’t think he got enough but he’s a strong hitter with a lot of pop and it got out there.”

Robertson threw only one curveball tonight and nearly hit Jones with it. He seems to be leaning more heavily on his fastball lately, but he dismissed the trend. “No reason,” he said. “Nothing to it.”

 That eighth-inning rally to tie was awfully impressive, especially for a team that’s been talking about doing all the little things. With two outs that inning, the Yankees drew three walks, singled twice and got an RBI double from Alex Rodriguez. “What I take away from it is the eighth inning,” Rodriguez said. “Guys swinging the bat, competing, playing with a lot of intensity. Those guys, tip your cap. That was an impressive eighth inning. We had an impressive top half. They trumped us in the bottom half.”

David Phelps had another bad first inning, with another slip on the mound for a balk. “Every loss is frustrating,” he said. “To come out of the gate that way and put us in a hole like that, it’s unacceptable. We had a big win last night, and we just lose all of that momentum that we built up last night in five batters. I’ve got to be better than that.”

Phelps wants his home run pitch to Matt Wieters to be down and away. He left it up and away.

The balk, Phelps said, is simply a matter of slipping on the mound. I believe he’s done it three times this season. “The mound was a little damp,” he said. “Got to make sure I dig it out a little better. It was fine the rest of the game.”

In the Orioles past four games against the Yankees they’ve hit 12 extra-base hits. All 12 have been home runs.

 Last word goes to Martin: “When you have Dave Robertson on the mound, the last thing you’re expecting is a team hitting the long ball against him. It doesn’t happen very often. He made a mistake to Jones, and Reynolds was just a tough battle. He got back in a 3-2 count and hit a ball that I didn’t think was going to get out, but he’s such a strong kid that he kind of just muscled it out there. Tough loss.”

The New York Mets are shutout at home by the Atlanta Braves

The New York Mets were defeated by the Atlanta Braves by the score of 3-0 on Friday night. The game took place at Citi Field in Flushing, New York. Jon Niese started for the Mets and pitched well and their bullpen was pretty good. The Mets offense only managed five hits. Paul Maholm pitched well for the Braves and their bullpen pitched really well. The Braves offense was led by Jason Heyward and Dan Uggla. 
Niese pitched six innings giving up five hits and a run with a walk and two strikeouts. Niese lost his ninth game of the season. Bobby Parnell pitched an inning giving up a hit and an unearned run with a strikeout and Jenrry Mejia pitched two innings giving up a hit and a run with a strikeout. Maholm won his 12^th game of the season pitching 5 1/3 innings giving up five hits and three walks with six strikeouts. Chad Durbin struck out the only batter that he faced, Louis Avilan pitched to one batter and retired him and Jonny Venters pitched a perfect inning. Eric O’Flaherty pitched an inning giving up a walk and striking out two and Craig Kimbrel saved his 35^th game of the season pitching an inning with a walk and two strikeouts.

Ronny Cedeno had a hit and drew a walk, Daniel Murphy had a hit and David Wright had a hit. Ike Davis drew two walks, Kelly Shoppach had a hit and Jason Bay drew a walk. Fred Lewis drew a walk, Niese had a hit and the Mets were 0-10 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base. Shoppach committed an error.

Michael Bourn had a hit and drew a walk, Reed Johnson had a hit and Heyward had two hits and an RBI. Uggla had two hits and an RBI, David Ross had an RBI and Maholm had a hit. Uggla hit a double and hit a homerun. Heyward hit a homerun and the Braves were 1-3 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base. Jones committed an error and Ross a passed ball.

Heyward hit a solo homerun in the fourth giving the Braves a 1-0 lead. In the seventh Ross hit a sacrifice fly to give the Braves a 2-0 lead and then the final run was scored in the ninth. Uggla hit a solo homerun to make it 3-0 Braves and that was the final score.

The Braves took the first game of three. The Mets record dropped to 65-73 and the Braves record improved to 79-60.

The New York Yankees go back to first with a win over the Baltimore Orioles

The New York Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles by the score of 8-5 on Friday night. The game took place at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland. Phil Hughes started for the Yankees and pitched well and the bullpen was pretty good. Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez led the offense. Wei-Yin Chen started for the Orioles and wasn’t very good and their offense was led by Nate McClouth. 
Hughes pitched six innings giving up six hits and three runs with two of them being earned. He won his 14^th game of the season and struck out five with no walks. Cody Eppley pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a run, Boone Logan pitched a perfect inning and Dave Robertson pitched 2/3 of an inning striking out one. Rafael Soriano pitched an inning giving up a hit and a run with two strikeouts. Chen lost his ninth game of the season pitching 4 2/3 innings giving up six hits and seven runs with a walk and four strikeouts. Steve Johnson pitched three innings giving up a hit and striking out three, Brian Matusz pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a run with a strikeout and Luis Ayala pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit.

Jeter had three hits and an RBI, Robinson Cano drew a walk and Rodriguez had two hits and two RBI. Russell Martin had a hit and three RBI, Andruw Jones had a hit and Steve Pearce had a hit and two RBI. Ichiro Suzuki had a hit, Martin, Pearce and Rodriguez each hit a homerun. The Yankees were 2-3 with runners in scoring position and left three men on base. Swisher committed an error.

J.J. Hardy had a hit, McClouth had three hits and Adam Jones had a hit and three RBI. Manny Machado had two hits and an RBI and Robert Andino had a hit and an RBI. McClouth hit two doubles and Jones, Andino and Machado each hit a homerun. The Orioles were 1-3 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base.

In the fourth Martin hit a three run homerun and Pearce hit a two run homerun to give the Yankees a 5-0 lead. Rodriguez hit a two run homerun in the fifth to push the Yankees lead to 7-0. The Orioles would get on the board in the sixth on a Jones three run homerun. Andino hit a solo homerun in the seventh to cut the lead to 7-4. The Yankees would add a run in the ninth on a Jeter RBI single and Machado hit a solo homerun in the bottom of the ninth to cap the scoring at 8-5 Yankees.

The Yankees and Orioles have split the first two games of this four game series. The Yankees are one game ahead in the American League East race. The Yankees record improved to 78-60 and the Orioles record dropped to 77-61. The Yankees will try and push their lead to two games on Saturday night with their ace on the mound.

The New York Yankees rally and then give it right back in loss to Baltimore Orioles

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Baltimore Orioles by the score of 10-6 on Thursday night. The game took place at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland. David Phelps started for the Yankees and did not pitch well, he put them in an immediate hole. The Yankees offense had some good at bats but didn’t really come through until the eighth inning. Mark Reynolds, Adam Jones and Matt Wieters led the Orioles offense. Jason Hammel was pretty good starting for the Orioles, their bullpen gave up the lead. 
Phelps pitched four innings giving up six hits and five runs. He walked two and struck out three. Clay Rapada struck out the only batter that he faced, Joba Chamberlain pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up a hit and a run with two strikeouts and Justin Thomas pitched a perfect inning. Dave Robertson took his sixth loss of the season not recording an out and giving up three hits and three runs, Boone Logan gave up a hit and a run and Derek Lowe pitched an inning striking out one. Hammel pitched five innings giving up six hits and a run with two walks and six strikeouts. Randy Wolf pitched 2 2/3 innings giving up a hit and three runs with two walks, Strop didn’t record an out and gave up two hits and two runs with two walks and Darren O’Day pitched 1/3 of an inning and retired the only batter he faced. Jim Johnson pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one. O’Day picked up his seventh win of the season.

Derek Jeter had a hit, Nick Swisher drew two walks and Robinson Cano had two hits. Alex Rodriguez had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Eric Chavez drew a walk and Curtis Granderson had two hits and two RBI. Russell Martin had a hit an drew a walk, Chris Dickerson had an RBI and drew a walk and Suzuki had three hits and two RBI. Rodriguez hit a double, the Yankees were 3-7 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Suzuki had a stolen base.

Nick Markakis had a hit, J.J. Hardy had a hit and drew a walk and Nate McClouth had a hit. Jones had two hits and two RBI, Wieters had two hits and three RBI and Reynolds had two hits, three RBI and drew a walk. Chris Davis had a hit and an RBI, Robert Andino had a hit and an RBI. Wieters, Andino, Jones and Davis each hit a homerun. Reynolds hit two homeruns and the Orioles were 2-2 with runners in scoring position and they left three men on base. Wieters had a passed ball.

In the first the Orioles took a 4-0 lead. Jones hit an RBI single and Wieters hit a three run homerun. The Yankees got a run in the fourth on a Granderson RBI single. Andino hit a solo homerun in the bottom of the fourth to make it 5-1 Orioles. Reynolds hit a solo homerun in the sixth to make it a 6-1 game. In the eighth inning the Yankees scored five runs to tie the game at six. Rodriguez hit an RBI double, Granderson hit an RBI single, Dickerson had an RBI walk and Suzuki had a two run single to tie the game at six. The Orioles would come right back and score four runs in the bottom of the eighth. The Orioles won the game 10-6. Jones hit a solo homerun, Reynolds hit a two run homerun and Davis hit a solo homerun.

The Yankees and Orioles are tied for first place in the AL East. The two teams will play three more games in this series. The Yankees and Orioles have an identical 77-60 record.

Yankees postgame notes after they take back sole possession of first place

Here are the Yankees postgame notes after a win put them back in sole possession of first place. Yes they blew a ten game lead and were tied for first but that was only one day.  They are back in first place and they still haven't been in second place or worse since the beginning of June.  They will hope a big win here in Tampa will propel them to a few more wins especially in Baltimore for a huge four game series beginning on Thursday night.  The Lohud Yankees blog had everything covered and I add my own thoughts in. 

The Yankees did lay down a bunt tonight. It came in the seventh inning, with no outs, the score tied, runners at first and a second, and the No. 9 hitter at the plate. Having Jayson Nix square up wasn’t exactly uncharted territory or a new approach. Execution was the biggest difference tonight.  I would agree with that but I think even in situations like that with Swisher up they have to start doing that.  They have a good offense, injuries have hurt but the problem really is execution.  The team has gone into an offensive slump, they hope that one win in Tampa broke them out of it.  They usually play well and especially hit well in Camden Yards.  It would be a good time for the offense to kick it into high gear-stay in firt place all alone and go from there. 

“The brand of baseball we’re going to have to play in October is one that has to do with a lot of small ball,” Alex Rodriguez said. “You can talk all you want about home runs and strikeouts and all that kind of stuff. What’s going to take us to the next level is what we did tonight: Execute the little things. I think that should be the theme for the rest of the year.”

Make no mistake, the Yankees biggest hits of the night went for extra bases. Russell Martin doubled to give the Yankees a one-run lead in the fourth, and after the Rays came back to tie, Martin hit his 15th homer to put the Yankees in front again. A couple of singles and a well-executed bunt set the stage for a lucky break on Elliot Johnson’s horrible, two-run throwing error.

“We took advantage of one of their mistakes,” Martin said. “And that’s what we’re going to have to do as we go along September here. Every game’s going to be tough, and when a team gives you something, you’ve got to take it.”  You have to do that and also be a little more aggressive offensively on the bases which they were. 

Tonight the Yankees took back sole possession of first place. They did it with terrific work out of the bullpen, rocky but effective starting pitching, and a gritty performance by the lineup. The Yankees were actually out-hit tonight, but little things made the difference. And for the first time in what felt like a very long time, the Yankees did the little things.

“You have to,” Derek Jeter said. “There’s going to be times when you have to do that. You’re not always going to be able to come up and hit home runs all the time, especially when you’re facing good pitching. They’re not going to allow you to do it. Everyone knows how good Tampa’s pitching staff is and sometimes you’ve got to do the little things. We were able to do that today.”  This is all playoff baseball now and that is what wins, pitching, defense and doing little things. 

 Don’t look now but Russell Martin’s batting average is above .200 after his 2-for-4 night with three RBI as the Yankees No. 5 hitter. “You bat fifth in this lineup, you’re going to have some opportunities to drive in runs,” Martin said. “I’ve hit there before in the past so it’s not like it’s nothing new, but it’s nice for the skipper to recognize that you’re doing the right things at the plate even if you don’t always get the results that you want. Now’s the time. Nobody really cares what my batting average is at this point. Every game’s a playoff game, and that’s how we’re going to go about it.”  He is right but if he starts hitting even a little bit and isn't an automatic out that is a huge boost for their lineup. 

This was Martin’s first three-RBI game since June 10 against the Mets.

The thing I know everyone is most curious about: Why did Dave Robertson wear his pants down tonight? “I’m not really a superstitious guy,” he said. “It’s just that I was joking around with Stew and asked if I should wear them down. He said absolutely, so I did.”  Joba also did that the night before, sometimes you just have to change things up when it is going bad

 Play of the night had to be Jeter chasing down that shallow fly ball to end the seventh inning, right? “I was a little nervous,” Robertson said. “I knew he got enough of it to possibly dump it out there and get a run, so I sure was real relieved when I saw him catch it. I saw when he kind of slowed down for just a second, I could tell he had it. He was still in a run, but I felt like he knew he was under the ball.”

 Jeter was limping a little bit after that play, but of course he dismissed it as a complete non-issue. “I think he hurt his ankle a little bit yesterday,” Joe Girardi said. “It kind of manifested itself on that play. I didn’t see it earlier. My guess is he’ll continue to be fine.”  The captain of course came through in a huge game as usual.  He of course will not sit out now and even if it was hurt really bad would say Im fine. 

 Not a particularly sharp game from Hiroki Kuroda, but after all the games he should have won earlier in the year, he’ll take a sloppy W tonight. “I think most of all, my breaking ball was really inconsistent and my two-seam fastball wasn’t really moving,” Kuroda said. “… Obviously the most important thing today was that we got a win.”

Hitless series with seven strikeouts for Nick Swisher, who’s a career .277/.374/.650 hitter at Camden Yards. “After this series, man, I’m glad to get out of here,” Swisher said.  Swisher needs to come out of it in Camden yards and they hope to have Teixeira back tonight or Friday, that will help also. 

Rafael Soriano is now 36-for-39 in save opportunities. His 35 saves since May 3 — when Mariano Rivera went on the disabled list — are the most in the big leagues.  It is amazing to think that injury that could of totally derailed them has hurt them the least. Who would of thought that, that is baseball a crazy game. 

The Yankees snapped a streak of five straight games without getting more than six hits. They’ve blown a lead in four straight games, but tonight was their first win in that span.

 Jeter now has 182 hits for the season, the most ever for a shortstop in his age-38 or older season, passing Honus Wagner who had 181 hits in 1912.

 Rodriguez said his legs were sore after three games on the turf, but he called that “par for the course” and said his hand feels fine. He has three doubles off left-handed pitchers this year, and all of them have come against the Rays (two off David Price and tonight’s off Matt Moore). He has a hit in every game since coming off the disabled list. “Each at-bat is getting a little more comfortable,” he said.

Final word goes to Rodriguez: “It’s funny, I left here last night very optimistic, as optimistic as I’ve been in a long time. There’s a feel-good thing about what’s going on right here, right now. I think it puts our master plan in order. Obviously today a win was nice, but overall, it’s a good feeling here right now.”

The New York Yankees salvage the final game of the series in Tampa Bay

The New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 6-4 on Wednesday night. The game took place at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Hiroki Kuroda started for the Yankees and didn’t pitch so well. The Yankees bullpen was great, Derek Jeter and Russell Martin led the offense. Matt Moore started for the Rays and pitched ok, their offense was led by Ben Zobrist and Evan Longoria. 
Kuroda pitched six innings giving up eight hits and four runs with two walks and three strikeouts. Kuroda lost his 10^th game of the season, Boone Logan pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a walk and striking out two and Dave Robertson pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up a hit and striking out two. Rafael Soriano picked up his 36^th save of the season pitching a perfect inning. Moore lost his ninth game of the season pitching 6 1/3 innings giving up eight hits and six runs with four of them being earned. He walked one and struck out nine, Kyle Farnsworth pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a walk and a strikeout, Jake McGee pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts and Wade Davis struck out the sides in a perfect inning.

Jeter had three hits, Robinson Cano drew two walks and Alex Rodriguez had a hit and an RBI. Martin had two hits and three RBI, Andruw Jones had a hit and Steve Pearce had a hit. Rodriguez, Martin and Jeter each hit a double and Martin hit a homerun. The Yankees were 2-8 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base. Jeter had a stolen base.

Sam Fuld had a hit and a walk, Desmond Jennings had a hit and drew a walk and Zobrist had a hit and two RBI. Longoria had two hits and an RBI, Matt Joyce had a hit and Luke Scott had a hit and an RBI. Jeff Keppinger had a hit, Lobaton had a hit and drew a walk and he hit a double. Zobrist hit a triple and Scott hit a homerun. The Rays were 2-7 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. Elliott Johnson committed an error.

Longoria hit an RBI single in the first to give the Rays a 1-0 lead. In the fourth the Yankees scored three runs to take the lead. Rodriguez hit an RBI double and Martin hit a two run double. In the fifth Zobrist hit a two run triple to tie the game at three, Martin hit a solo homerun in the sixth to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead. In the bottom of the sixth Scott hit a solo homerun to tie the game at four. The Yankees took the lead for good in the seventh inning. Jeter reached on a fielders choice, a run scored and then another on an error. The final was 6-4 Yankees as their bullpen shut the Rays down.

The Yankees salvaged the final game of the three game series. The Yankees record improved to 77-59. The Rays record dropped to 75-62. The Rays dropped to 2 ½ games back of the Yankees in the AL East. The Yankees are back in sole possession of first place with a one game lead over the Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees will begin a four game series in Baltimore on Thursday night.

The New York Mets salvage the final game of the series in St. Louis

The New York Mets defeated the St. Louis Cardinals by the score of 6-2 on Wednesday afternoon. The game took place at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. R.A. Dickey started for the Mets and pitched well. Mike Baxter and Ike Davis led the Mets offense. Adam Wainwright started for the Cardinals and didn’t pitch that well. Jon Jay and Descalso led the Cardinals offense.
Dickey pitched 6 2/3 innings giving up eight hits and two runs with a walk and five strikeouts. Dickey picked up his 18^th win of the season, Josh Edgin struck out the only batter he faced and Jon Rauch pitched a perfect inning. Frank Francisco pitched an inning giving up a hit and struck out one. Wainwright pitched five innings giving up eight hits and five runs with two walks and five strikeouts. He lost his 12^th game of the season, Shelby Miller pitched two innings giving up a hit and striking out four and Victor Marte didn’t record an out giving up three hits and a run. Marc Rzepczynski pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout and Sam Freeman pitched an inning giving up a walk and striking out the side.

Baxter had two hits, Daniel Murphy had three hits and Davis had a hit, three RBI and drew two walks. Lucas Duda had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Justin Turner had two hits and Josh Thole had two hits and an RBI. Andres Torres had a hit and an RBI, Turner hit two doubles and Duda hit a double. Davis hit a homerun, the Mets were 4-10 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Tejada committed an error and Baxter had an outfield assist.

Jay had two hits, Lance Berkman had a hit and Matt Carpenter drew a walk. Shane Chambers had a hit, Daniel Descalso had two hits and Tony Cruz had a hit. Wainwright had a hit and an RBI, Jackson had a hit and Wainwright hit a homerun. The Cardinals were 0-6 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.

In the second Thole hit an RBI single giving the Mets a 1-0 lead. Duda had an RBI walk in the third to give the Mets a 2-0 lead and Wainwright hit a solo homerun to make it a one run game in the third. Davis hit a three run homerun in the fifth to pad the Mets lead to 5-1. In the seventh Allen Craig hit into a double play scoring a run and making it a 5-2 game. Torres hit an RBI single in the eighth to push the lead to 6-2 and that was the final score.

The Mets lost two out of three in the series. The Mets record improved to 65-72 and the Cardinals record fell to 74-63. The Mets will have the day off on Thursday and then begin a three game series against the Atlanta Braves on Friday.

The Mets lose second in a row in St. Louis

The New York Mets were defeated by the St. Louis Cardinals by the score of 5-1 on Tuesday night. Matt Harvey pitched pretty well and David Wright, Ruben Tejada and Scott Hairston led the Mets offense. Jaime Garcia started for the Cardinals and pitched well and Jon Jay, David Freese, Descalso led the Cardinals offense. 
Harvey pitched five innings giving up six hits and three runs with three walks and four strikeouts. Harvey lost his fourth game of the season, Justin Hampson pitched an inning giving up a hit and a run and Ramon Ramirez pitched an inning giving up two hits and a run with a walk. Jeurys Familia pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one. Garcia pitched 7 1/3 innings giving up nine hits and an unearned run with no walks and five strikeouts. Lance Lynn pitched 2/3 of an inning and Trevor Rosenthal pitched a perfect inning.

Tejada had two hits, Wright had two hits and Hairston had two hits. Mike Baxter had an RBI, Daniel Murphy had a hit and Jason Bay had a hit. Justin Turner had a hit, the Mets were 0-8 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Shoppach had a passed ball.

Jay had two hits and an RBI, Matt Carpenter had an RBI and drew a walk and Matt Holliday drew a walk. Allen Craig had a hit, Yadier Molina had two hits and drew a walk and Freese had two hits and an RBI. Skip Shumaker had a hit and an RBI, Descalso had two hits, an RBI and drew a walk. The Cardinals were 3-9 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base. Descalso had a stolen base and committed an error. Carpenter also committed an error.

In the second the Cardinals took a 3-0 lead. Schumaker hit an RBI single, Descalso hit an RBI single and Carpenter hit a sacrifice fly. Jay hit an RBI groundout in the sixth to make it 4-0. Freese hit an RBI single in the seventh and it was 5-0. The Mets scored their only run and the final run of the game in the eighth. Baxter hit a sacrifice fly for the only Mets run.

The Mets have lost two straight in St. Louis after winning seven of their previous eight games. The Mets record fell to 64-72 and the Cardinals record improved to 74-62. The two teams will play the third and final game of the series on Wednesday afternoon.

The Yankees lose in Tampa and lose their division lead

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 5-2 on Tuesday night. The game took place at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Freddy Garcia started for the Yankees, he wasn’t horrible but he wasn’t great either. The Yankees offense was Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter had a good game. Alex Cobb pitched well for the Rays and B.J. Upton and Evan Longoria led the Rays offense. 
Garcia pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up five hits and five runs with four walks and five strikeouts. Garcia lost his sixth game of the season, Clay Rapada gave up a walk without recording an out and Cody Eppley pitched 1 2/3 perfect innings with two strikeouts and Joba Chamberlain pitched a perfect inning with a couple of strikeouts. Cobb won his ninth game of the season pitching seven innings giving up four hits and two runs with a walk and five strikeouts. Johnny Peralta pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out the sides and Fernando Rodney picked up his 42^nd save of the season pitching an inning giving up a hit and striking out one.

Jeter had two hits, Nick Swisher drew a walk and Cano had a hit and two RBI. Alex Rodriguez had a hit, Jayson Nix had a hit and Dickerson had a hit. Cano hit a homerun and the Yankees were 0-5 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base. Dickerson had a stolen base.

Desmond Jennings had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Upton had two hits and two RBI and Ben Zobrist drew a walk. Longoria had a hit, two RBI and drew a walk, Carlos Pena drew two walks and Ryan Roberts had a hit. Upton had a double, Longoria, Jennings and Upton each hit a homerun. The Rays were 1-4 and left four men on base. Jennings had a stolen base.

In the first Cano hit a two run homerun, Upton hit an RBI double to make it 2-1 and Longoria hit a two run homerun in the third to make it a 3-2 game in the third. In the fifth Jennings and Upton hit back-to-back homeruns to make it 5-2 Rays and that was the final score.

The Yankees have now lost three games in a row, four of their last five and are now in a first place tie with the Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees are 76-59 and the Rays are 75-61 and 1 ½ games behind the Yankees. The two teams will play the third and final game of the series on Wednesday night.

Yankees Monday evening Postgame Notes after a loss in Tampa

Here are the Yankees postgame notes from Monday evening after another loss and their lead shrunk to one game.  The notes are courtesy of Lohud Yankees Blog and my thoughts mixed in. 

When Alex Rodriguez slid across home plate, popped to his feet and clapped his hands together, the Yankees seemed to have something going. That fourth inning was a show of life from this team, a three-run rally that gave the Yankees a lead and gave them a chance to build some momentum. By the end of the game, that inning was a perfect backdrop for just how poorly they played the rest of the game.

Fourth inning: Three runs on four hits.
Rest of the game: No runs on one hit.
James Shields is very good, we all know this. So is Fernando Rodney. There’s the obligatory tip of the cap. Certainly good pitching had something to do with it, but this offense was lifeless today. There was productive energy in the fourth. Otherwise, there was nothing. The Yankees didn’t get another runner into scoring position until Eduardo Nunez pinch ran and stole second base in the ninth inning.  The offense was all in that one inning and that was it period.  Their offense has been so bad, it would help if they were scoring some runs. 

“We all gotta do what we do,” Alex Rodriguez said. “The way you come out of things like this is by doing the little things and if we focus on doing the little things and become master at those we don’t have to worry about big things. And hopefully we’re on our way.”

“It’s frustrating, especially after the last outing, not being able to hold the lead,” Sabathia said. “Today I’ve just got to be a lot better than I was. … I felt like my stuff was good, I just didn’t make pitches when I needed to. Got into some bad counts and didn’t make the right pitches.”

There was some second guessing of Derek Jeter’s decision to throw to first, not home, on the game-tying ground out in the fifth. “What was there, nobody out?” Jeter said. “That would have been a tough one right there. Upton can run. If you don’t get him, you’re looking at two guys on and still nobody out. In that situation, what was it, the fifth, I think? You’ve got to go for the out.”  I can't disagree with Jeter, if you throw home and don't get him the inning could really blow up. 

Jeter did look home as if he were thinking about trying for the out at the plate. “I’m always looking,” Jeter said. “I looked up, but I didn’t think we had it. We maybe, possibly, could have had a chance, but in that situation, that inning, you don’t take a chance like that. Maybe in the 8th inning, 9th inning, something like that, it might have been a different story.”

Rodriguez said his timing was good and he felt good in his first big league game since late July. “Overall, I felt good,” he said. “Again, it’s a process. Today was another step forward. Saw the ball well, hand felt good, and I liked the intensity the team played with today. And tomorrow’s another day.”  It was good for the Yankees to get him back, hopefully Granderson tommorrow and then Teixeira by the end of the week.  These guys are going to have to carry them through September and into October and they should be able to do it. 

Rodriguez struck out in his final at-bat against Rodney. “I’m thinking about, Rodney’s got great stuff, just get a good pitch to hit, put a good swing on it,” Rodriguez said. “He gave me two good pitches to hit and I fouled them back, and the rest is history.”

Girardi didn’t seem upset at Cano for not running out of the box on that line drive that was dropped at third. “I think he thought he caught it, then he ran,” Girardi said. “That happens. Guys think a line drive is caught and then they kind of freeze.” If the Yankees weren’t in this situation — losing games and seeing their lead dwindle — it probably wouldn’t have been a big deal, but given this situation, it was ugly to see Cano miss out on a possible hit because he wasn’t hustling.  It is frustrating to see for the fans but the ball that got past him he said he felt tightness in his hip and that is why, it didn't look good though it shouldn't of snuck through. 

Sabathia on the home run pitch to Upton: “Two seamer away. It was up and he put a good swing on it. … (Trying to go) down and away. Trying to get a ground ball. He was in a hitter’s count. Just trying to make a pitch and ended up leaving the ball out over the plate.”

Sabathia has won just three of 17 starts against the Rays since coming to the Yankees. He has a 3.57 ERA in those starts, but he’s 3-7. Before coming the Yankees, Sabathia was a 7-1 with a 2.44 ERA in 11 career starts against the Rays (granted, those earlier Rays teams probably weren’t nearly as good).

Robertson on his outing: “I felt like I didn’t have my best stuff but I felt like I had good enough stuff to be able to get three outs. It’s unfortunate today that I wasn’t able to do that. … I fell behind a couple of times. Still, you want to make one good pitch and be able to get the outs you need. It seemed like I just couldn’t make a good enough pitch. Balls were finding holes and they were getting through.”

 Curtis Granderson pinch hit and struck out in the ninth. If he’d reached base, Granderson would have been lifted for a pinch runner.

No concerns about Ichiro Suzuki after his collision with Chris Dickerson. By the way, Dickerson is probably much bigger than most people realize. Dickerson was going to win that collision with no problem.

Final word goes to Jeter: “Yea, right now (things are going bad), but you can change it. We beat some teams early on, right? Baseball’s a funny game, a funny sport. Sometimes you struggle a bit, and then all of a sudden, things seem to change and you roll off a lot of wins. Hopefully we start that tomorrow. … Still got to have confidence. Unfortunately you can’t win every day. You’d like to — he approach is to win every day — but you’re going to go through highs and lows. You still have to have confidence, and we have a lot of confidence.”

The Mets lose a one run game in St. Louis

The New York Mets were defeated by the St. Louis Cardinals by the score of 5-4 on Monday afternoon. Collin McHugh started for the Mets and didn’t pitch great, their bullpen was pretty good. The Mets offense was led by Daniel Murphy. Joe Kelly started for the Cardinals and was pretty good, their offense was led by Allen Craig and Skip Shumaker. 
McHugh pitched four innings giving up six hits and four runs with two strikeouts. He lost his first game of the season, Manny Acosta pitched two innings giving up a hit and Robert Carson pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a run and a strikeout. Bobby Parnell pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two hits and a walk and Josh Edgin pitched an inning striking out one. Kelly won his fifth game of the season pitching 6 2/3 innings giving up five hits and two runs with two walks and four strikeouts. Edward Mujica pitched to one batter and retired him and Mitchell Boggs pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up two hits and two runs with a walk. Sam Freeman gave up a hit without recording an out and Jason Motte saved his 33^rd game of the season pitching 1 2/3 innings giving up a walk and two strikeouts.

Ruben Tejada had a hit and drew a walk, Murphy had two hits, two RBI and drew a walk and Ike Davis had a hit and drew a walk. Jason Bay had a hit, Mike Baxter had a hit and drew a walk and Kelly Shoppach had a hit and two RBI. Andres Torres had a hit, Davis hit a double and Torres hit a triple. Shoppach and Murphy each hit a homerun, the Mets were 0-6 with runners in scoring position and they left seven men on base. Baxter had a stolen base and Murphy was picked off. Davis and Murphy each committed an error.

Jon Jay had a hit, Matt Carpenter had two RBI and Matt Holliday had two hits. Craig had two hits and an RBI, Yadier Molina had a hit and an RBI and David Freese drew a walk. Schumaker had two hits and an RBI, Kelly had a hit and hit a double. Jay hit a triple and Schumaker hit a homerun. The Cardinals were 2-8 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. Kelly had a pickoff.

In the first inning Carpenter had an RBI groundout in the first inning to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. Carpenter hit a sacrifice fly and Molina hit an RBI single in the third to make it 3-0. Shumaker hit a solo homerun in the fourth making it 4-0 Cardinals. In the seventh Shoppach hit a two run homerun to trim the lead to 4-2 Cardinals. Craig hit an RBI single in the seventh to make it 5-2 Cardinals. Murphy hit a two run homerun in the eighth to make it 5-4 and that would be the final score.

The Mets had won seven of their last eight games coming into this game. The Mets record dropped to 64-71 and the Cardinals record improved to 73-62. The two teams will play game two of three on Tuesday night.

The New York Yankees lose in Tampa Bay and their lead is down to one game

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 4-3 on Monday afternoon. The game took place at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. CC Sabathia started for the Yankees and in a game where they desperately needed him to be the ace and shut them down he failed. Sabathia wasn’t bad but he wasn’t great. Dave Robertson gave up the winning run and the offense didn’t do much except for one good inning. James Shields started for the Rays and pitched ok, their bullpen was good and Chris Gimenez led the Rays offense. 
Sabathia pitched seven innings giving up three runs on eight hits. He walked two and struck out four. Dave Robertson pitched an inning giving up three hits and a run with a strikeout. Robertson lost his fifth game of the season. Shields pitched eight innings giving up five hits and three runs with three walks and five strikeouts. Shields won his 13^th game of the season and Fernando Rodney saved his 41^st game of the season pitching an inning and striking out two.

Derek Jeter drew a walk, Robinson Cano had a hit and Alex Rodriguez had a hit. Eric Chavez had an RBI and drew a walk, Raul Ibanez had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk and Russell Martin had two hits and an RBI. Cano hit a double and Ibanez hit a triple. The Yankees were 2-7 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base. Martin and Nunez each had a stolen base.

Desmond Jennings had a hit, B.J. Upton had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk and Ben Zobrist had a hit. Evan Longoria had a hit and an RBI, Jeff Keppinger had two hits and Ben Francisco had a hit. Ryan Roberts had a hit, Gimenez had two hits, two RBI and drew a walk and Elliott Johnson had a hit. Johnson hit a double, Upton hit a homerun and the Rays were 2-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Upton, Zobrist and Roberts each had a stolen base. Thompson was caught stealing and Johnson committed an error.

In the second inning the Rays took a 1-0 lead on a Gimenez RBI single. Upton hit a solo homerun making it 2-0 in the third. The Yankees scored three runs to take the lead in the fourth inning. Chavez hit a sacrifice fly, Ibanez hit an RBI triple and Martin hit an RBI single making it 3-2 Yankees. The Rays tied the game at three in the fifth on a Longoria RBI groundout. The Rays won the game in the eighth inning on an RBI single by Gimenez.

The Yankees and Rays will play game two of three on Tuesday night. The Yankees have now lost three of their last four and their lead in the AL East is down to one game over the Baltimore Orioles. They are 2 ½ games up on the Rays. The Yankees record dropped to 76-58 and the Rays record improved to 74-61.

The New York Yankees drop the rubber game to the Baltimore Orioles

The New York Yankees were defeated by the Baltimore Orioles by the score of 8-3 on Sunday afternoon. The game took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. Phil Hughes started for the Yankees and pitched well for five innings and then lost it in the sixth. The Yankees bullpen wasn’t very good and their offense was led by Chris Dickerson. Chris Tillman started for the Orioles and left with tightness in his elbow, their bullpen pitched well. Mark Reynolds led the Orioles offense. 
Hughes pitched five+ innings giving up eighth hits and five runs with a walk and six strikeouts. Hughes lost his 12^th game of the season, Cody Eppley pitched 1 1/3 innings giving up a hit and drew a walk and Clay Rapada struck out the only guy that he faced. Joba Chamberlain pitched 1/3 of an inning giving up a hit, two runs and a walk and Justin Thomas struck out the only batter that he faced. Derek Lowe didn’t record an out and gave up a hit, a run and a walk. Boone Logan gave up a hit without recording an out and Cory Wade pitched 1 2/3 perfect innings. Tillman pitched three innings giving up two hits, two runs with two walks and two strikeouts. Randy Wolf won his fourth game of the season pitching 3 1/3 innings giving up three hits and a run with a walk and a strikeout and Luis Ayala pitched an inning giving up a hit. Brian Matusz pitched 2/3 of an inning striking out one and Darren O’Day pitched one inning giving up a walk.

Derek Jeter drew a walk, Nick Swisher had a hit and an RBI and Robinson Cano had a hit. Eric Chavez had a hit, Russell Martin drew two walks and Ichiro Suzuki had a hit. Dickerson had a hit, two RBI and drew a walk and Jayson Nix had a hit. Nix hit a double and Dickerson hit a homerun. The Yankees were 1-5 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base.

Nick Markakis had three hits and two RBI, Nate McClouth had a hit and drew a walk and Adam Jones had a hit. Matt Wieters had a hit, an RBI and drew a walk, Reynolds had three hits and four RBI and Chris Davis had a hit and drew a walk and Manny Machado had two hits. Robert Andino had an RBI and drew a walk. Reynolds hit two homeruns and the Orioles were 4-10 with runners in scoring position and they left seven men on base.

In the second Dickerson hit a two run homerun to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. Reynolds hit a solo homerun in the fifth to make it 2-1. Swisher hit an RBI single in the fifth to make it 3-1. In the sixth Wieters hit an RBI single and Reynolds hit a three run homerun to make it 5-3 Orioles. In the eight the Orioles tacked on, Andino walked and a run scored and Markakis hit a two run single to make it 8-3 which was the final score.

The Yankees lost two out of three in the series. The Yankees record dropped to 76-57 and the Orioles record improved to 74-59. The Orioles are now only two games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Yankees begin a ten game road trip on Monday afternoon in Tampa.

The New York Mets sweep the Miami Marlins

The New York Mets defeated the Miami Marlins by the score of 5-1 on Sunday afternoon. Chris Young started for the Mets and pitched well, the bullpen pitched very well. Jason Bay led the Mets offense. Mark Buehrle started for the Marlins and didn’t pitch so well, the bullpen pitched well. The Marlins offense was led by Justin Ruggiano. 
Young pitched five innings giving up five hits and a run with a walk and three strikeouts. Young earned his fourth win of the season, Bobby Parnell pitched a perfect inning, Josh Edgin pitched an inning giving up a hit and a walk and Jon Rauch pitched a perfect inning striking out two. Frank Francisco pitched a perfect inning. Buehrle lost his 12^th game of the season pitching seven innings giving up six hits and five runs with a walk and three strikeouts. Ryan Webb pitched an inning giving up a hit and struck out one and Carlos Zambrano pitched an inning giving up a hit and striking out one.

Ronny Cedeno had a hit, Justin Turner had two hits and David Wright had an RBI. Ike Davis had a hit and drew a walk, Bay had two hits and four RBI and Andres Torres had two hits. Cedeno, Torres and Turner each hit a double. Bay hit a homerun and the Mets were 2-7 with runners in scoring position and they left three men on base.

Bryan Petersen had a hit and drew a walk, Ruggiano had two hits and an RBI and Jose Reyes had a hit. Donovan Solano had a hit, Rob Brantly had a hit and drew a walk and Ruggiano hit a double. The Marlins were 1-7 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. Reyes had two stolen bases.

In the first Wright had an RBI groundout and Bay hit a grand slam making it 5-0 Mets. The Marlins scored their only run in the fifth inning. Ruggiano hit an RBI double to make it 5-1 and that would be the final score.

The Mets swept the three game series in Miami. The Mets record improved to 64-70 and the Marlins record dropped to 59-75. The Mets have now won seven of their last eight games. The Mets will begin a three game series in St. Louis on Monday afternoon.